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The new standard.

The BB30 system continues its reign over the peloton as a preferred bottom bracket standard. It's not hard to see why, as an oversized, 30mm spindle and large bottom bracket shell add torsional stiffness, providing a responsive and efficient pedaling platform without increased weight. The system's direct fit, press-in bearings also eliminate the need for aluminum bottom bracket cups, further reducing weight. With the technology licensed from Cannondale more than a decade ago, a multitude of manufacturers now produce BB30-compatible products. SRAM's right there leading the bunch, having engineered its new Red 22 Crankset with the BB30 standard, 'True 22' X Glide R chainring calibration, and innovative Exogram technology.

SRAM's first generation Red crankset used a foam core with a carbon structure wrapped around it to meet SRAM's ambitions for drivetrain performance and weight. While the stiff crank arms offered excellent response under load, one complaint that came from a handful of ProTour riders was that under load the front shifts sometimes lacked sufficient precision and crispness. SRAM's team of R&D experts set out to solve this gripe and the changes you'll find on the Red 22 Crankset directly correlate to improved shifting.

The new SRAM Red 22 BB30 Crankset has gone away from that first-generation foam-core formula, and now has a significantly beefier arm shape with a true hollow cross section. Because of the larger carbon-optimizing structure, SRAM is able to use less material, effectively reducing weight without negatively affecting stiffness. This also allowed them to rotate the spider to take advantage of the large, flex-fighting crank arm.

SRAM chose to stick with the 130mm bolt circle diameter standard, ensuring compatibility with aftermarket chainrings, but they've arranged the spider to position a mounting bolt on the backside of the crank arm. By integrating a mounting location within the existing carbon structure, they're able to reduce weight and deflection from shifting -- effectively enhancing the accuracy, speed, and quality of front shifts. This reduces the number of spider arms to four and gives the cranks a sleek, air-splitting profile.

The Red Exogram chainrings have also received extensive reworking to boost front shifting performance, specifically focusing on integration with the rotating, Yaw-caged Red front derailleur. Coined X Glide R, these chainrings are machined from 5mm thick 7075-T6 aluminum and now have been carefully tuned to accommodate the 11-speed drivetrain. SRAM used extensive computer-aided finite element analysis to optimize stiffness first, followed by shift ramp profiles. Then they set out to eliminate any unnecessary material without affecting the structure. SRAM placed the new shift pins to correlate with your cadence and cut the ramps to into a profile that works seamlessly with the new Red front derailleur.

The Red 22 BB30 Crankset comes in 170, 172.5, and 175mm lengths, and both 53/39 and 50/34 chainring configurations are available.

Will crankset be compatible with the old...

Technically, the two are not compatible. Changes in specifications are small, but the 22 components were designed to be used exclusively with SRAM's 11 speed drivetrains. You may be able to get by with using it, but the shifting will likely not be spot on. We do have some great deals on SRAM Force 10 speed cranksets right now that you might check out.